By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on X.
Former Sony employee and editor of 4 TV magazines.
The class action lawsuit filed by former Sunday Ticket subscribers against DIRECTV and the NFL now has a trial date — February 22, 2024, according to Deadline.
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2015 when DIRECTV had the Ticket’s rights, is challenging the league’s authority to sell the Ticket as an exclusive to one company, saying that arbitrarily sets a higher price.
Deadline writes that U.S. District Court Judge Philip Gutierrez last week rejected the NFL’s motion for a summary judgment before setting the trial date. You can read his decision here.
“The NFL-DIRECTV agreement prevents telecasts from appearing on more than one channel, reducing the number of games being shown locally as free, over-the-air broadcasts and leaving DIRECTV as the only option to view many games,” Judge Gutierrez wrote last week, summarizing the plaintiffs’ argument.
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The lawsuit has serious ramifications for the NFL because it could result in a verdict that would challenge the league’s authority to award the Sunday Ticket to a single company. Google obtained the exclusive rights to the package of out-of-market Sunday afternoon games starting with the 2023 season.
However, the NFL and the former Ticket subscribers could settle the case before or during the trial, eliminating the potential of a disastrous verdict for the league’s TV division. Deadline writes that the subscribers are seeking $6.1 billion in damages.
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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.
